The warehouse is home to Newtown's ad hoc donation center, where gifts from around the world are received and processed in the wake of the Dec. 14 bloodshed at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Nearly all 20,000 square feet are packed with toys.

"It's a little overwhelming for us," said First Selectman Pat Llodra. "On the one hand, we really treasure that outpouring of love and support. At the same time it's beyond our capacity to use effectively."

In the aftermath of the shooting that left 20 students and six educators dead, Newtown has been inundated with donations - everything from large sums of money to flowers, toys and school supplies.

The U.S. Postal Service reported that it has "received hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail and still receives thousands daily." More is arriving via FedEx and UPS, in the backs of minivans and SUVs.

In one instance, a school bus from Georgia pulled into town, loaded with goodies from well-wishers there.

Nowhere to go

But most of these affectionately packaged parcels have nowhere to go.

"We are going to have a lot of excess," said Chris Kelsey, the town assessor whose duties have been temporarily redefined to include oversight of the elaborate processing operation for donations.

Kelsey spoke from a room where volunteers loaded stuffed animals into cardboard boxes and labeled them "484" - the designation for teddy bears - and then categorized them as large, medium or small.

"If people have teddy bears or toys to give, they should give them to someone who needs them," Kelsey said. "We're full."

On Wednesday, Llodra and other town officials urged gift givers to stop. But in recent days, donations seem to have increased, Kelsey said, with truckloads of packages arriving daily.

About half of the donations are stuffed animals, with the remainder equally divided between school supplies and other toys. Some odd items arrived, such as 10,000 tulips bulbs for the town Parks and Recreation Department to plant.

Letters, too many for the warehouse to handle, are brought to a separate facility.

Adding to disaster

The onslaught of generosity is what disaster relief workers often term the "disaster after the disaster."

After disasters, the Red Cross generally encourages supporters to donate money to relief efforts rather than items such as food, clothing, or in this case, stuffed animals.

Llodra said that while families affected by the shooting and others within the Newtown community will have first rights to any donated items, most of it will be distributed elsewhere. In a town with fewer than 10,000 households, there is only so much need for teddy bears.

"Our intention is to make sure these wonderful expressions of sympathy and support go to those who actually need them," she said.